LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY PANEL AND LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DEVICE

• US 20100026942A1
• Filed: 03/03/2008
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Fukukawa, Tomoo, Fujioka, Kazuyoshi, Ogawa, Katsuya
• Granted Patent: US 8,228,468 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 349/114
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133371 Cells with varying thickness of the liquid crystal layer
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133555 Transflectors
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133707 Structures for producing distorted electric fields, e.g. bumps, protrusions, recesses, slits in pixel electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2203/09 transflective

Abstract

With the present invention, a fitting curve (f1) of the gamma curve (e1) arranged to be above a fitting curve of the gamma curve (e2), except in a region where the fitting curve (f1) shows a reflectivity of 0 and the fitting curve of the gamma curve (e2) shows a transmissivity of 0, and a gamma curve (e1) of reflective display and a gamma curve (e2) of transmissive display are obtained from measurement. Further, the fitting curve (f1) includes no gray scale inversion but at least one point of inflection (P1) where a sign of a differential coefficient is switched over. Thereby, it becomes possible to realize a liquid crystal display panel and a liquid crystal display device, for displaying images in a transmissive mode and a reflective mode, each of the liquid crystal display panel and the liquid crystal display device easily having an improvement in display quality of reflective display.

Claims

1. A liquid crystal display panel for displaying images in a transmissive mode and a reflective mode,

a first fitting curve being a fitting curve of a gamma curve of a reflective display, the gamma curve being obtained from measurement,

a second fitting curve being a fitting curve of a gamma curve of a transmissive display, the gamma curve being obtained from measurement,

the first fitting curve being above a second fitting curve, except in a region where the first fitting curve shows a reflectivity of 0, and also the second fitting curve shows a transmissivity of 0, and

the first fitting curve including no gray scale inversion but at least one point of inflection.

2. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein:

the first fitting curve has a gamma value of 2.2 in a neighborhood of the point of inflection on a low-luminance gray scale side of the point of inflection, and has a gamma value in a range from 0.5 to 0.8 in a neighborhood of the point of inflection on a high-luminance gray scale side of the point of inflection.

3. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein:

at least one region having a cell thickness dR is in a reflective region of a picture element, dR satisfying a relationship represented by an inequality ( 9/16)×

dT≦

dR≦

2×

dT, where dT indicates a uniform cell thickness in a transmissive region of the picture element.

4. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 3, wherein:

in the reflective region on an active matrix substrate of the liquid crystal display panel, said at least one region includes a region where a first insulating film has a contact hole so that an picture element electrode of the reflective region is connected to a first electrode which is opposed to the picture element electrode, via the first insulating film.

5. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 4, wherein:

the first electrode is opposed to a storage capacitor line via a second insulating film.

6. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 4, wherein:

on the active matrix substrate, the first electrode is provided in a route of supplying a data signal to both the picture element electrode of the reflective region and a picture element electrode of the transmissive region.

7. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 4, wherein:

a projecting member projecting toward a liquid crystal layer is provided in a region of a counter substrate of the liquid crystal panel, the region facing the picture element electrode of the reflective region of the active matrix substrate.

8. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 7, wherein:

liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are driven in a vertical alignment mode.

9. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 7, wherein:

liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are driven in a parallel alignment mode.

10. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 7, wherein:

inequalities are satisfied;

2≦

(area of third region)/(area of first region)≦

4; and

(area of first region)/(area of second region)≧

2.5,

where the first region is a cell region where the picture element electrode of the

reflective region of the active matrix substrate is opposed to a region of the counter substrate where no projecting member is provided,

a second region is a cell region where the contact hole is opposed to the counter substrate, and

a third region is a cell region where the picture element electrode of the reflective region of the active matrix substrate is opposed to the projecting member.

11. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 3, wherein:

the reflective region has a uniform cell thickness.

12. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 3, wherein:

the reflective region has a plurality of cell thicknesses which are different from each other.

13. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 3, wherein:

inequalities are satisfied;

2≦

(area of third region)/(area of first region)≦

4; and

(area of first region)/(area of second region)≧

2.5,

where (i) the reflective region includes a first region having a cell thickness d1, a second region having a cell thickness d2, and a third region having a cell thickness d3, and

(ii) d3<

d1<

d2 and d1=dT, and

(iii) d2 is dR satisfying said relationship.

14. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein:

in a case where the liquid crystal display panel employs 0-gray-scale to 63-gray-scale, a reflectivity corresponding to 31-gray-scale is not less than 40%.

15. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein:

in the case where the liquid crystal display panel employs 0-gray-scale to 63-gray-scale, the reflectivity corresponding to 31-gray-scale is not more than 60%.

16. The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 14, wherein:

in the case where the liquid crystal display panel employs 0-gray-scale to 63-gray-scale, an input gray scale falls in a range from 24-gray-scale to 40-gray-scale at the point of inflection.

17. A liquid crystal display device comprising a liquid crystal display panel recited in claim 1.